The various embodiments described herein generally relate to retail-customer assistance systems. More particularly, the various embodiments described herein relate to a system and method for assisting a retail customer to obtain information about merchandise.
In modern retailing, the trend is increasingly toward high-volume outlets that contain literally tens of thousands of items and are staffed by the fewest possible personnel. To keep prices at a competitive level retail stores strive to cut frills, pack merchandise in a maximal way onto shelves and keep number and training of personnel low. This model for lean staffing is further accentuated by having many of the “people-on-the-floor” that are doing shelf replenishment be representatives from suppliers rather than store personnel who are familiar with the store and, hence, can help shoppers. The above staff-to-customer ratio deficiency is additionally accentuated by 24/7 store hours where staffing during non-peak shopping hours is purposely kept to the absolute minimum.
In such a cost conscious retail environment, where thousands of items are up for sale in massive areas with shelved products and very few trained sales staff is available, the customer tends to pay lower prices while consistently having to manage the challenge of finding the location of desired merchandise on the shelves. Hence, finding merchandise tends to be time consuming and prone to causing customer frustration.
Retail stores have attempted to address the problem of helping customers find what they want in several different ways. Large chains, particularly grocery store chains, try to keep store layouts consistent amongst stores. However, layout consistency may not be strictly implemented, for example, because of varying store sizes and architectural constraints, and is likely only of value to frequent-repeat customers who are looking for the same merchandise once again.
The most direct way of assisting customers is by stores training their staff to know the merchandise layout. Such staffing and training, however, is difficult to implement in sufficient numbers in view of the cost, and does not prevent mistakes by staff. Alternatively, stores can put up large signs at the entry to aisles with information on what products are to be found in the respective aisle. However, because the signs need to be readable at a relative distance, only a limited number of products or merchandise categories can be listed on such placards. Detailed store directories can be printed but they lack ease of use for a browsing customer in the aisles and generate substantial expenses whenever a change in layout is made.
Further, automated kiosks installed in stores allow a customer to walk-up and query the store's product database for an item's shelf location. However, ease of use may be limited because the customer does not know the proper name of the product or lacks the required spelling/keying skills to be comfortable using it. Also, stationary kiosks, like printed directories, do not help browsing customers in the aisles or those making multiple purchases.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,928,343 describes a mobile kiosk attached to a shopping cart, wherein the shopping cart is augmented with the capability to continuously update the location of the shopper via a form of inertial positioning using compass bearing and wheel revolutions. Accordingly, the cart's kiosk advises the shopper of certain specials in the adjacent shelves. The location of the shopping chart is updated and refined whenever the customer uses the mobile kiosk to scan merchandise for a price quote or nutrition information. The mobile kiosk further provides the retailer with information related to how shoppers transverse the aisles and product displays.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/044011 addresses part of the shopping kiosk usability issues by adopting a nested graphical product search interface. Rather than display directly merchandise or require entry of specific merchandise by name, the disclosed system allows a customer to start from, e.g., a kitchen setting and allow the user to decompose items displayed into merchandise for which a map through the store is displayed. This process of navigating via a hierarchy of nested displayed images requires a user-accessible computer with a display facility. The map can show the shortest distance through the store leading to each item, or lead the customer to items in the most convenient order. Additionally the map can note other products and merchandising of interest.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0059049 improves on the above store navigation by using a portable data device wherein the user enters a task such as tiling, which the system interprets as one or more items and then creates a path that is graphically displayed to the customer on the screen of the portable data device as a tour relative to graphically displayed layout of the store or part there-off. The path is also used to cause other product related information to be prompted to the customer to stimulate additional purchases. The task can be entered before-hand or directly keyed into the personal digital assistant (PDA) using its alpha/numeric keyboard. The task is then decomposed into a number of constituent purchases of items. The path includes a graphical representation of the exact location of the sought item. The platform for display of the path is a personal computer, but can also be a web enabled mobile phone or PDA with the required display facilities. The path can be pre-stored or loaded into a portable device to be accessed during shopping or printed onto paper.
The technique of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0059049 assumes prompting a shopper as the shopper transits the path outlined of the products associated with the task. For a usable path display a sufficient display size and resolution are required. Also all information is given relative to a path that may not be direct even when the customer's interest is focused on simply getting to the specific shelf location.
The above-described systems provide some assistance to customers. However, these systems require special purpose devices, e.g., with significant display capability, and, hence, a substantial initial financial investment. In addition, customers may not be familiar, or hesitant using these devices, for example, because they are not comfortable typing or feel distracted from shopping when typing. The mode of usage does not emulate and optimize the simplest mode of shopping which is inquiry to a knowledgeable party and walkup and purchase.